Shoe lasting and sewing machines



April 3 1956 J. R. loANNlLLl 2,740,139

SHOE LASTING AND SEWING MACHINES Filed April 20, 1953 F9] ,2

UnitedStates Patent C SHOE LASTING AND SEWING MACHINES Joseph R. Ioannilli, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. .1., a corporation of New `lersey Application April 20, 1953, Serial No. 349,622 4 Claims. (Cl, 12^1) The present invention relates to improvements in edge binding strip guidesfor shoe-lasting and sewing machines, particularly of that type provided with opposed workengaging and feeding rolls for uniting the parts of aplatform shoe while a continuous grip is maintained on them. 'ln one aspect of theV invention the strip guide is similar to that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,433,053, granted December 23, 1947, upon application of Clyde L. Knott.

The machine of the patent identified above is arranged to connect an unattached at platform sole and a relatively thin flexible binding strip directed into the machine in advance of the sewing point, no lasting operation being performed. Because no last is employed when sewing with that machine, the parts are presented in superposed attened condition and all curvatures along the margins of the parts are in a single two-dimensional plane, a particularly desirable form of binding-strip guide being employed for reception of a variable width strip of a pliability which enables easy wrapping about the edge of the platform sole. The guide of the patented machine, accordingly, is constructed with a forwardly projecting circular strip curling portion. `The circular portion of the guide contines the strip in a manner to cause its natural resiliency to urge one edge thereof into firm engagement with one end of the guide which is located in properly alined relationship with the sewing point of the machine. lf an attempt is made to present a shoe mounted on a last to that machine, the bulging upper on the last will engage the forwardly projecting circular portion of the guide, interfering with the' feeding and' positioning movements of the shoe and disturbing the operation of the guide. Also, a last mounted shoe presents a three-dimensional line of curvature along the edges of its parts which requires tipping and turning movements detrimental to easy direction of a binding strip in ak guide acting in advance only of the sewing point.

An object of the present invention is to provide a' con` veniently arranged binding-strip guide for a shoe-lasting and sewing machine of the work-gripping roll type illustrated in the patent referred to, which guide will facilitate accurate direction of a binding strip into a seam line curved in three dimensions, the shoe including an upper and a sole member mounted on a last. Another object is to provide a binding-strip guide for lasting and sewing a shoe `in which thek positioning movements required to follow the curvatures of the shoe will not react detrimentally on the movement of a binding strip being drawn into the sewing point of the machine. To these ends a lasting and sewing machine is provided having stitch-forming devices operating along a three-dimensionally curved break line formed by the angle between the side and the tread surfaces of a last, means including an upper tensioning roll for imparting a lasting pull to an upper in advance of the point of the operation of the stitch-'forming devices, and a member for resisting the force of the roll in pulling 'the upper, in which machine mounted a-two-part a'ngu'larlyy bent sheet metal bindice ing-strip guide located inr advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices and arranged with a 'binding-strip edge guiding flange extending along the line of a seam inserted by the stitch-formingdevices at the side of the upper tensioning roll opposite to the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices to unite the upper, the marginal portions of a sole member and a binding strip effectively while the lasting pull is being exerted, both parts of the guide being conveniently of the same thickness and of generally the same shape and lbeing provided with perforated tongues adjustablysecured together and to the machine. In such machine the usual stitchforming devices include a needle' acting diametrically acrossthe tensioning roll, the' ange of the improved edge guide being located at the opposite side of the tensioning roll from the point of the needle operation. Preferably, the guide is of angular shape, one of the two parts of the guide being external and the other part internal with relation to the angular shape, a hooked end on the internalV part engaging and' providing rigid support for a free arm on the external part.

Other features of the invention consist of the novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described' and claimed, the advantages of which will be apparent from the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation looking from the right, partly broken away and in section, of the operating devices in a roll-type lasting and sewing machineembodying the featuresof the present invention;

Fig'. 2 is a detail View partly broken away, of the upper tensioning roll and binding-strip guide in the machine illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 isl a perspective view of the upper tensioninglroll and the binding-strip guide with its parts shown in separated relationship;

Fig. 4 is a View in front elevation on a somewhat reduced scale' of the parts in the machine showing the manner of operation upon a shoe illustrated partly insection, as viewed along the line IV-IV of Fig. l;v and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a portion of a shoe after Ibeing lasted and sewn on the machine. l

The illustrated machine is intended for operation upon a shoe upper to stretch it over a last and to unite `itwith a thinexible unchanneled sole member of duck or canvas material forming a sock lining mounted on the tread surface of a last, together `with one edge .of a binding strip, of a width and pliability to enable easy wrapping about the edge of a platform sole, in suchy a way that the resulting shoe conforms with all of the structural requirements for a platform shoe; The corner portion of a last used in the construction ofi-such shoe is indicated at 2, in Figs. 1 and 5. The upper of the shoe is indicated at 4, the sole member in the form of a blank to the edge of which the upper is lasted at 6,.and aniedge binding strip 8. The sole member is cemented or otherwise fastened to the bottom or tread surface 10 of the last with 'flexible marginal portions projectingv beyond the edge or break line 12 of the last. Before the lasting-and sewing operations are started, the upper is temporarily secured to the last in loose fitting relation and the parts thus located presented to the machine. To impart a stretching pull to the upper and to bring it into-conformity with the last the parts are acted upon by an upper tensioning roll 14 and a sole tensioning r-oll 16 between which the marginal portions of the upper and sheet material forming the sole member are gripped. To unite the parts in lasted relation the machine `is provided with stitch-forming devices including a straight eye-pointed needle 18 and a needle loop-engagingwhirl 20.

For resisting" the force' o'f thelasting rolls in stretching the upper and sole member, the upper tensioning roll 14 is rotatably mounted on a carrier or stud 22 having an enlarged head providing a stationary needle guide 24 at the end of the roll 14, the needle passing diametrically across the end of the roll 14 beside the needle guide and acting at a point on the work intersected by a line passing across the centers of both rolls 14 and 16. Co-operating with the needle guide 24 is a work support 25 engaging the sole member 6. The force of stretching pull exerted 4on the shoe upper is resisted by the engagement of the upper and sole member under the support of the surfaces of the last with the needle guide and work support.

As thus far described the machine is similar to that of the United States Letters Patent referred to above and No. 1,864,510 granted June 2l, 1932, upon application of Bernard T. Leveque.

In presenting a shoe to the machine of the prior patents, the operators full attention must be given to guiding the shoe so that a uniform lasting action and a proper stretch will be imparted to the upper to bring it into accurate conformity with the shape of the last. For this reason, in sewing the binding strip 3 a guide is employed which relieves the operator of the necessity for directing the wrapper strip manually. To conform with the space requirements around the sewing point in the machine, the illustrated wrapper-strip guide is shaped and supported in a manner which will assist in positioning the shoe at the operating point in the machine without interfering with the movements of the other operating parts, besides being simply and readily manufactured and adjustable in its action of directing the wrapper strip into the sewing point of the machine.

In accordance with the present invention, the wrapper or binding-strip guide is mounted on the machine in advance of the sewing point and is constructed of two generally similar angularly-bent U-shaped sheet metal parts 26 and 28 of equal thickness arranged in nested and slightly spaced relation to provide a passageway forthe strip between them. Both guide parts are-bent with the same angle and are disposed in parallel relationship, each part external and internal to the U-shape being bent twice through a right angle. The lower parallel arms of the parts extend in a plane substantially tangent to the peripheries of the upper and sole tensioning rolls at the line where the rolls bite the projecting marginal portions of the shoe. For convenience in manufacture and assembly of the guide, each part has an angularly projecting perforated tongue by means of which the parts are adv justably secured to each other and to a rearwardly extending lug portion of the needle guide 24 by clamp screws 30. The free edges of the external and internal guide parts opposite the perforated tongues are brought into overlapping engagement through the use of a reversely bent hooked end on the internal part 28 engaging and providing a rigid support for the end of the other part.

To insure that the binding strip led between the guide parts 26, 28 will be directed with accuracy into line with the bite of the rolls 14, 16 and with the sewing point, the tangent arm of the internal part 28 has a notch 32 for admitting the periphery of the upper tensioning roll 14. At the side of the upper tensioning roll 14 opposite the point of operation of the needle, the internal guide part has a binding strip edge engaging ilange 34 extending substantially vertically along the side of the roll 14. When a binding strip is directed into contact with the Jrlnage 34, a uniform margin along one edge of the strip will project beyond the point of sewing operations and the roll 14 will act effectively through the notch 32 to tension the upper properly over the last 2. Suitable adjustment of the guide parts 26, 28 is readily obtained by loosening the clamp screws to free the guide parts for limited relative movement permitted by the use of oversized perforations 35 in the guide parts through which the screws pass.

To facilitate insertion of a binding strip into the guide and to insure that the edge of the strip will be brought into rm contact with the edge guide ange 34 before sewing is started, the external guide part 26 has an enlarged opening 36 in its vertical front wall. When a strip is inserted part way into the guide it is pushed into the sewing point of the machine by projecting the point of a knife or other sharp object through the opening and into the leading end of the'strip until its correct initial position is assumed.

With the construction of the wrapper or binding-strip guide described, in case of necessity the parts of the guide may be disassembled even with a wrapper strip in place between them during the operation upon a shoe if difficulty is encountered through improper operation of the machine. Removal of the external guide part 26 will enf able the binding strip to be disengaged from the guide and any difficulty in the machine readjusted. Thereafter, the 'guide parts may be reclamped in operating position enclosing the wrapper strip without further diiculty in other respects. Furthermore, by manufacturing the guide in two separate parts greater adaptability is obtained for guiding strips of diierent widths, it being necessary only to replace the external guide part 26 with one having a greater or less upward bulge,.indicated at 38, along its upper edge to accommodate variations in width of binding strip.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and an embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A machine for stretching a shoe upper over a last and for uniting it with the marginal portions of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of the last, and a binding strip of a width and pliability which enables easy wrapping about the edge of a platform sole, said machine having stitch-forming devices operating along the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including an upper tensioning roll for imparting a stretch to the upper in advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices, and a member for resisting the force of the roll in stretching the upper, in combination with a two-part sheet metal binding-strip guide, the parts of which are substantially the same thickness and shape with perforated tongues adjustably sei cured together and to the machine in advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices and arranged with a binding-strip-edge engaging flange on one of the parts extending along the line of the seam inserted by the stitch-forming devices at the opposite side of the upper tensioning roll from the point of operation of the stitchforming devices. k

2. A machine for stretching a shoe upper over a last and for uniting it with the marginal portions of an unchanneled sole member of relatively exible material mounted on the tread surface of the last, and a relatively thin binding strip of a width and pliability which enables easy wrapping about the edge of a platform sole, said machine having stitch-forming devices includinga needle` operating along the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including an upper tensioning roll for imparting a stretch to the upper in advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices, and a member for resisting the force of the roll in stretching the upper, in combination with a two-part sheet metal binding strip guide mounted on the machine in advance of the point of operation of the stitchfforming devices and arranged with a bindingstrip-edge engaging flange on one part extending along the line of the seam inserted by the stitch-forming devices, a hooked end onsaid one part engaging and providing a rigid support for the other part, both parts of the guide being of the same thickness.

3. A machine for stretching a shoe upper over a last and for uniting it with the marginal portions of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of the last, and a binding strip of a width and pliability which enables easy wrapping about the edge of a platforrfl sole, said machine having stitch-forming devices operating along the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including an upper tensioning roll for imparting a stretch to the upper in advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices, a member for resisting the force of the roll in stretching the upper, and a carrier on which the roll rotates, in combination with a two-part angularly bent binding-strip guide mounted on the carrier for the roll in line with the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices, the external part of the guide being formed with a U-shape with one arm attached t the carrier and an internal part of similar shape also with one arm attached to the carrier, between which parts is a space for passage of the binding strip, the internal part being formed with a hooked end engaging the free edge of the external part, and a notch for admitting the upper tensioning roll into contact with the binding strip passing through the guide.

4. A machine for stretching a shoe upper over a last and for uniting it with the marginal portions of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of the last, anda binding strip of a width and pliability which enables easy wrapping about the edge of a platform sole, said machine having stitch-forming devices operating along the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including an upper tensioning roll for imparting a stretch to the upper in advance of the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices, a member for resisting the force of the roll in stretching the upper, and a carrier on which the roll rotates, in combination with a two-part angularly bent binding-strip guide mounted on the carrier for the roll in line with the point of operation of the .stitch-forming devices, the external part of the guide being formed with a U-shape with one arm attached to the carrier and an internal part of similar shape also with one arm attached tothe carrier, between which parts is a space for passage of the binding strip, the internal part being formed with a hooked end engaging the free edge of the external part, a notch for admitting the upper tensioning roll into contact with the binding strip passing through the guide, and a flange extending along the side of the roll opposite to the point of operation of the stitch-forming devices for guiding one edge of the binding strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

